MILTON, Mass. – The Curry College football team lost a 30-21 conference contest to visiting Salve Regina University on Saturday afternoon at Walter M. Katz Field. The Seahawks move to 4-3 overall (2-1 CCC Football) while the Colonels dip to 2-6 overall and 0-6 in league play.
The Seahawks capitalized on a missed throw from Nick Juvelier (Centereach, N.Y.), which ended up in the arms of Drew Balestrieri (Lynnfield, Mass.) as he took it 32 yards to the house. Following the score, Andrew Verre (Wethersfield, Conn.) tacked on the extra point to put Salve Regina up 7-0.
The Colonels would respond with a 12-play, 80-yard drive spanning six minutes and 20 seconds at the beginning of the second quarter. Juvelier scampered in from four yards out to pull Curry to within one, 7-6. Nicholas Oliveira put the extra point through the uprights to knot the game at seven with 5:14 left in the half.
Curry would grab its first lead in the contest as Juvelier found D'Aundray Burcy (Hyde Park, Mass.) for a 33-yard strike to cap a five-play, 65-yard series in 2:31. With another successful point after from Oliveira, the score was pushed to 14-7.
Salve Regina found the answer quickly, engineering an eight-play drive in 1:14, finished off by a 10-yard touchdown pass from Tyler McGovern (Attleboro, Mass.) to Benjamin Cortes (Smithfield, R.I.). Verre converted the point after opportunity to tie the game at 14 heading into the halftime intermission.
The Seahawks tacked on a Brendan Nunes (Attleboro, Mass.) receiving touchdown and a Verre 22-yard field goal to cap off scoring plays to end the third quarter and start the final stanza to stretch the lead to 23-14.
The squads traded fourth-quarter scores as Juvelier put together an 11-play drive, going 81 yards and found the end zone from a yard out to cut the lead to just two, 23-21.
Salve Regina put the exclamation point on the contest as Brandon O'Neill (Madison, Conn.) forced a Juvelier fumble which was recovered by the Seahawks and taken to the end zone with just 17 seconds left in regulation. Verre converted the point after to send the margin back up to nine, 30-21, the eventual final.
Juvelier led the Colonels with 33 completions on 61 attempts for 360 yards and one touchdown, as well as racking up two scores on the ground. Zach Levy (Bellingham, Mass.) rushed for a team-high 55 yards on eight attempts and caught another three passes for 35 yards. Nick Villanueva (Hanson, Mass.) led the receiving corps with 115 yards on 11 catches and two touchdowns.
The defense was led by senior Jeremy Eliades (Berlin, Conn.) who racked up seven total tackles. Gregory Silvia (Coventry, R.I.) also registered seven tackles.
Salve Regina was led by McGovern who connected on 11 of his 22 passing attempts for 120 yards and two touchdowns. Joey Mauriello (Colts Neck, N.J.) racked up 73 yards on the ground. Nunes led the receivers racking up 72 yards on six catches as well as the touchdown.
John Goode (Rockland, Mass.) led the Seahawk defense with seven solo tackles, including interceptions. Balestrieri and Matt Messner (Midland Park, N.J.) also racked up seven total tackles apiece.
Curry will next host Becker College on Saturday, October 27 at 1:00 for its regular season home finale. The program will honor its seniors prior to the contest in a special Senior Day ceremony. Salve Regina travels to the University of New England on Saturday for a 4:00 p.m. kickoff.
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